› added 9 years ago

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TIL in the 70s the US tapped an underwater comm line located between two USSR harbors using navy divers deployed from a submarine. Submarines returned with divers every month to retrieve the tapes, and The soviets never found out despite having a network of sonar sensors!

n8a7 TIL a prolific art forger has donated works to dozens of museums. When the FBI found out, they couldn’t convict him of any crimes because he never received any money or other benefit for his forgeries.
A4yn TIL that Josef Stalin fired, imprisoned, or executed 3,000 biologists because he preferred the research of a guy who denied the existence of genes ard natural selection, and thought that rye could be transformed into wheat. Soviet crop yields declined during his tenure.
dyOQ Today I learned that if a Disney cruise ship needs to be evacuated, the first people to get a lifeboat are two Disney employees dressed as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. This is to ensure children that the two characters did not go down with the ship.
w84Y TIL that after President Kennedy’s death in 1963, the television networks aired 4 days of commercial-free coverage of his funeral, burial, and other proceedings, costing them about $100 million in lost advertising revenue. 93% of all American homes watched some coverage
lorpB TIL coffee drinking is associated with a decreased risk of dementia. Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day in midlife is associated with a decreased risk of dementia by about 65%.